Monthly Archives: July 2012

Since I decided to get up and watch our favorite new TWolves at 3:00 this morning, I might as well do a brief game wrap. Russia handled the Chinese from start to finish in what was perhaps a more-impressive victory than the opener versus overmatched Great Britain. While the stat lines of Alexey Shved and Andrei Kirilenko were a bit more modest than the first game, the players looked just as good and played as important of roles in another one-sided affair. Continue reading →

Alexey Shved’s 2012 Olympics debut in Russia’s win over Great Britain yesterday opened eyes worldwide, and nowhere more than in Minnesota. The 6’6” guard had 16 points on 6-of-11 from the field and dropped 13 dimes en route to a big win. Better yet for us Wolves fans, the chemistry he has with Kirilenko was palpable. Kirilenko managed to dominate even more than Shved, scoring 35 on 14-of-17 from the floor and doing a lot to reverse the concerns Andy and I voiced in our breakdown of the AK47 signing.

But the big story for me was Shved. The question isn’t if he can play, but at which position and for how many minutes.

Alexey Shved just made one helluva first impression. First impression if you’re like me and don’t watch European basketball. He and fellow Wolves newcomer Andrei Kirilenko were DOMINANT in the Russians’ drumming of Great Britain on Sunday afternoon. Although GB is not considered a good Olympic team, they do have NBA players, including a good one in Luol Deng. Lest we all spend too much time analyzing a single Olympic game, I’ll do this in BULLETS: Continue reading →

On Friday, March 9, 2012, the Minnesota Timberwolves played its most-anticipated game in over seven years when Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol came to town. The team was 21-19, its best mid-season record since the Saunders Administration, the glamorous and championship-tested Lakers were a hot ticket, and just to fan the flames of the fiery matchup ahead, there was even buzz on Twitter that Pau Gasol might be traded to the Timberwolves over the weekend. I attended this game, and remember a palpable buzz around First Avenue during the Friday happy hour, with fans all eager to watch what promised to be a great game. Oh, and there was one more gimmick to celebrate what seemed like a momentous occasion in the franchise’s Post-Garnett Era. There would be a “whiteout” of the crowd, with white tees waiting on seats for fans to throw on in support of the home team. While a significant fraction of fans were donning purple and gold, the whiteout was there and was kind of cool to see after watching so many games in recent seasons with dead Target Center crowds.

Of course, this whiteout could not have ended worse for the Wolves. With Love sitting out with a suspension (for chest-stomping Luis Scola) the Wolves inexplicably led the Lakers the whole way, carrying a lead well into winning time and raising the hopes of the whited-out crowd that the team was on the verge of its biggest victory in years. The game’s prospects–and the season’s–were dashed when Ricky Rubio tore up his knee, ending the game and effectively ending the season. Was the whiteout a hex? Continue reading →

Andy G: According to Jerry Zgoda and other sources, the Wolves are hotly pursuing former Jazz (what are you supposed to call a Utah Jazz member?), Andrei Kirilenko, willing to give away Wes Johnson and a future first rounder to clear space for a large Kahntract; something in the neighborhood of two years, $18 Million.

“Shved is a handful in pick-n-roll, where he can hit pull-ups going both ways, get all the way to rim or drop sweet dishes to his teammates. Simply a great pick-n-roll player.”

“A terrific passer with impeccable timing and accuracy. Not quite as masterful as his new teammate, Ricky Rubio, but he’s close.”

“Adept at hitting floaters or runners.”

Wow. Sounds like the real deal.

The bad:

“Has an element of carelessness to his game. His sometimes casual approach reminds you of Vince Carter–it seems like he’s playing pickup basketball. It appears sometimes he’s not too concerned with his mistakes.”